MS Dhoni was an unbiased captain: R P Singh recalls selection controversy of 2008

 "M S Dhoni is what he is because of his unbiased opinions," said former India player R P Singh, recalling a selection controversy in 2008 when pacer lost his place in team to Irfan Pathan. A media report in 2008 had claimed that Dhoni wanted R P Singh instead of Pathan for a part of home ODI series against England. Without ackwledging claims of report, n Indian captain had called selection meeting leak as "disgusting and disrespectful". Looking back at that incident and his career of 14 Tests, 58 ODIs and 10 T20s, R P Singh said he had hard feelings over his axing.

'Dhoni was an unbiased captain'

"I don't think I was affected by leak. England series we are talking about, I didn't get a wicket in Indore. Obviously people think y will get 2 or 3 more chances. But it was t meant to be. Some get 5 chances, some get 10 chances lucky ones," 34-year-old, whose last game for India came in 2011, told 'Sports Tak'.

"But many times it has happened to me, whenever my performance dipped, I was directly sent to play domestic cricket. Sometimes, people tend to stay with team even if ir performance dips and get good quality practice. moment you go to domestic cricket, you won't get that quality competition."

He said Dhoni was a fair captain and ir friendship never affected wicketkeeper batsman's decisions for team. "We (Dhoni and I) had a discussion about where I could improve, what I can do to get better. I kw MS Dhoni. Friendship is a different thing, but leading country is different altoger. At that moment, I think he pushed ones who he thought were better. I think he pushed people whom he thought would follow plans better. "This is why MS Dhoni is MS Dhoni today. His unbiased opinions on cricket and decision making. I didn't play as much as I should have because maybe my speed dipped and my swing dipped. Everything else is secondary. If I had improved n, I would have played more. But I am happy with whatever I achieved."

A much younger Dhoni captained likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

R P Singh said Dhoni got captaincy early in his career for a reason.

"y (senior players) should have seen something different. Today when we see MS Dhoni... he has gone to become a big name and had a massive impact on world cricket. y saw his calmness, his match awareness as a keeper. Batting potential was always re, his keeping was also improving a great deal.

"But most important thing was balanced temperament, his off field behaviour. When we talk about selection (as captain), his match awareness and his ability to take game forward should have played a big role," he added. 

Im credits: PTI